TAMPA, FL, Nov. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - A dream is now a reality for children in
Tampa as their drawings were turned into a new playground today. In
less than eight hours, the play space was built at Temple Crest Park
with the help of more than 200 volunteers from ForestersTM, the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department, Friends of Tampa
Recreation and non-profit KaBOOM!. The new playground will serve
thousands of children and their families in the community for years to
come.

"Foresters believes in providing opportunities for families to spend
quality time together," said Kasia Czarski, Foresters Senior Vice
President, Chief Membership and Marketing Officer. "A playground is an
important piece for the revitalization of a community. Not only does it
provide a first step towards keeping children healthy, but it's a safe,
central location for the entire neighborhood to get together."

Planning for the playground began at a Design Day event held in
September when local children and community leaders met with organizers
from KaBOOM! and Foresters to design their dream playground. The
children's drawings were then used to create the final playground
design.

"Working with KaBOOM!, Foresters and the Friends of Tampa Recreation
Inc., to provide a community built playground at Temple Crest is more
than rewarding. As past successes with KaBOOM! have time and again
proven it is closer to magical for the park builders that day and
especially to the youth who will use the great new playground, said
Greg Bayor, Director of the City Tampa Parks and Recreation Department

Since 2006, Foresters has invested over $7 million with KaBOOM! with
almost 100 playgrounds built or planned across the U.S. and Canada.
Over their 15 year lifespan, these playgrounds will provide more than
2.6 million children and their families with an opportunity to spend
quality time together. Foresters is a KaBOOM! National Partner and a
founding member of the KaBOOM! Leadership Circle - a group of
organizations providing long-term guidance and support to KaBOOM! and
its mission.

"Every child deserves a really cool place where they can play. The
Friends of Tampa Recreation, Inc. is committed to helping create those
spaces in Tampa and we are pleased to sponsor our fifth playground
build with KaBOOM! and the City of Tampa," said Mark Downing, Chair,
Friends of Tampa Recreation, Inc.

Thanks to the work of Foresters, the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation
Department, Friends of Tampa Recreation and KaBOOM!, children and their
families now have a 2,500 square-foot playground to call home that
includes features such as a Glide Slide, Spiral Climber and Vertical
Adventure Tube.

About the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department
The Tampa Parks and Recreation Department's highest priority is to meet
the Mayor's goal of advancing the quality of life in Tampa's
neighborhoods by delivering consistent services; maintaining the safety
and appearance of city parks and recreation facilities; and instilling
community pride. Tampa has more than 3500 acres of open parkland. Tampa
Parks and Recreation Department offers a variety of athletic,
recreational, art, and educational programs and activities for all
ages. We invite you to explore our parks online at www.tampagov.net/parksandrec.

About Friends of Tampa Recreation
The Friends is a not for profit organization that supports the City of
Tampa Parks and Recreation Department through fund raising
opportunities. The Friends of Tampa Recreation, Inc. seeds new ideas,
rewards initiative and enables others to help promote access and
interest in the leisure amenities of Tampa.

About Foresters
Foresters™ is a life insurance provider with a difference. The
fraternal benefit society, founded in 1874, supports family well-being
through quality products, unique member benefits and inspiring
community activities. Foresters shares its financial strength with over
one million members in Canada, the United States and the United
Kingdom. For more information, visit foresters.com.

Foresters™ is the trade name and a trademark of The Independent Order of
Foresters, a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto,
Canada M3C 1T9; its subsidiaries are licensed to use this mark.

About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children
today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a
fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health,
achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this play deficit,
social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! in 1996
in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play
within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM!
has mapped over 90,000 places to play, built more than 2,200
playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds
of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with
online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a
local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the
organization and the importance of the cause of play in his TheNew York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: A Movement to Save Play, now out in paperback. The book details how businesses and communities
can work together to save play for children across the country. All
author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more
information, visit www.kaboom.org.

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